Mostly Beagles, Babies, and Books...

We read A LOT of books in our family, especially children’s books. Reading is so important for the development of young minds, so we take our reading seriously – we read every day but always keep the content fun. Each month, I’ll share with you children’s book reviews for three of my favorites and three of my daughter’s favorites, because reading should be enjoyable for the child and the parent!

I took Carla May to the library for the first time this month, but we did not stay for long. Carla May loves the sound of her own voice lately and the silence of the library provided the perfect opportunity for a little mischief. She would yell out to hear her voice echo, and then giggle at herself. It was super cute, but after a couple dirty looks by the other library patrons, we checked out our books and left. A few of our favorites this month were board books checked out at our wonderful local library!

My Favorites

This beautiful book was a gift from Carla May’s godfather and I couldn’t love it more! Rather than tell stories of helpless princesses waiting for a man to come save them, each page of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls gives a short biography of a notable woman in history accompanied by a gorgeous and colorful ink illustration. Carla May is still a little young to fully appreciate this one – She likes the ribbon page-marker best about this book so far – but I know this is going to be a favorite of hers, too, in the near future.

Feminist Baby – Loryn Brantz

I was a little surprised to find this gem at our public library (we live in one of the most conservative counties in the state of Florida), but I was so glad I did! This adorable book teaches girls to wear whatever they choose, pick whatever color they like best, and aspire to be anything they want to be. The illustrations are just darling, especially on the last page, where feminist baby is wearing a headband and posing as Rosie the Riveter.

Don’t – Litsa Trochatos and Virginia Johnson

Don’t was another Destin library find. With incredible watercolor illustrations and clever suggestions for what not to do with wild animals (“Don’t let a penguin pilot your plane. It can’t fly.”), I could not stop laughing as I read this book aloud. Carla May doesn’t quite get the humor yet, but she liked the pictures of animals and the sound of her mother’s laughter.

Carla May’s Favorites

Don Quixote – Jennifer Adams and Alison Oliver

I purchased all three of Carla May’s favorite books this month at Sundog Books during our latest expedition out to Seaside. They have a wonderful selection of children’s books, including the BabyLit series, which are board book adaptations of classic literature. Her favorite of the bunch was Don Quixote. Each page of this board book has an illustration of a character or important aspect of the book (windmills, for example) and has the name of the person or object in both English and Spanish. This is one of the first books Carla May has really paid attention to as far as the language is concerned. We have read it start to finish three times in a row because she likes it so much. I am going to look for more dual language books in the future since she has shown such an interest in this one. Any recommendations?

The Odyssey – Jennifer Adams and Alison Oliver

The Odyssey is another BabyLit book that we picked up at Sundog. This one is fun because it shows all of the monsters from the classic novel and the sounds they make. The bold colors of the illustrations and fun sounds capture Carla May’s attention and the novelty of a baby book interpretation of a classic that was required reading for me back in school makes me smile. However, I really need to Google the pronunciation of some of these monster names (How do you say “Charybdis”?).

On My Beach – Sara Gillingham and Lorena Siminovich

Just like most of Carla May’s favorites from last month, books with tactile features are always a hit. On My Beach doesn’t have much of a story line – each page basically just gives the finger-puppet crab in the middle a new setting to crawl around in. Carla May could probably play with this book for 30 minutes. Once again, we purchased this book from Sundog. They have a huge selection of beach-themed books for both children and adults.

FYI: If you decide to purchase any books from this post, I recommend you buy them from a locally owned bookstore if that is an available option for you. If you decide to purchase from Amazon by clicking on any of the book covers in this post, I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Also, if you sign up for the Bookroo (which I highly recommend), we get some free books. Thank you!